The dichotomy of Character and Player

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A role-playing game is a game in which the participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, they may improvise freely; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the games.

I have underlined the important part. One hundred percent of a character's actions, decisions, thoughts and speech is determined by their initial characterization and who they are as a person. In roleplay, it is never based on the player's actions. An example:

PlayerB: (in thoughts) I like CharacterA's coyote backpack. I'll take it even though my character doesn't need it.

CharacterB: Put your hands up, CharacterA, this is a robbery!

As roleplayers, we should strive and we will struggle every day to achieve the ideal separation of a player and their character. The situation above should ideally never play out. CharacterB was putting their life at risk, must have been ready to take the life of another human being, and generally gone through a process of struggle against their own learned behavior. Humanity as a whole is learned to suppress the most basic, oppressive instincts, through hundreds of years of evolution within civilization. This is not something that simply goes away "because zombie apocalypse". Please consider that even soldiers trained to kill as a part of their job struggle with this, often come back with PTSD or other issues, and some of them are unable to take an actual killing shot.

And those are people who kill complete strangers, usually at a distance, don't speak their language, and are a completely different culture. At least in our roleplay environment, most of our characters have a similar culture, our characters all speak the same language (mostly), and most of all - conflict is handled, 90% of the time, after personal contact is made. Your characters have seen their face. Spoke to them.

It is a completely different case from the player's perspective. You don't know this character; you don't know the player behind them; it's just a game; you like coyote backpacks. Whatever else you can think of. We don't have that same moral struggle when acting out our characters, because DayZRP is simply not that immersive, no game is. So for us to roleplay, we must introduce a complete dichotomy between our character and ourselves.

METHODS

Through my years of roleplaying experience, I have found there are two major methods in which to achieve that separation in a way that creates good roleplay. It all depends on the specific person and each method works for different kind of people.

1. Method A; STOP AND THINK

The first and most commonly used method is what I privately refer to as STOP AND THINK. This is the easiest, conscious effort to create a dichotomy between your character and you, but can sometimes be a struggle to employ in situations where you have to decide fast, on the spot. The basis of this method: there is an action required from your character, be it speech or a reaction to something or any other action. Now usually, our decision to do something like this is decided in a split moment. We don't even think about it.

STOP

Identify those moments and stop for a few seconds.

THINK

Don't just decide based on the situation, ask yourself the question: What would (insert your character's name here) do in this situation? You can do this out loud, or just in your head. Simply posing the question will achieve a disconnection from your own consciousness and help you make a decision that is true to your character and not you.

This method isn't without fault. Often, the situation is so simple we don't even realize we should think about our character's real thoughts about it. Or a split second action is required (like to shoot or return fire). The first can be resolved with simple training; the more you ask yourself this question and utilize the STOP AND THINK method, it will naturally come to you even in simple situations.

The second is a tough one. Usually, we can follow our instinct, i.e. in shootouts: take cover. This will most of the time be our character's instinct anyway. At that point, adrenaline is pumping, heart rate is up, you don't want your character to die. It's hard to think about roleplaying right now. This can't really be helped, unless you become completely disconnected from the game, you will always dread dying, especially on a game such as DayZ.

There is no cure-all medicine for this, but a friend of mine wrote "STOP AND THINK" in big letters and taped it on the top of his computer screen. He looks at it whenever he's roleplaying and he says it helps him a lot. It might sound stupid, but it made him a better roleplayer.

2. Method B; THE TRANSFORMATION

The second and far more rare method I refer to as THE TRANSFORMATION. It can also be described as complete disconnection, or complete empathy. This is something I've personally learned about and can speak about easily. It is best described as letting go, completely, of your physical self and becoming your character to the point where your character's decisions come to you naturally, even things you would not do in real life. And I don't just mean killing people, I mean the situation where someone asks your character "what is your view on abortion" and your character instantly replies "I abhor it and think it should be banned!" with passion, even though your real life utmost and passionate belief is that life should be pro-choice and women should make their own decision in this.

There is no process to learn this method, at least I'm not aware of one. It is sort of a natural thing to do, but there are actions you can take to IMPROVE at this. The most important part is to know your character. Know them to the depth of their hearts, flesh them out, create their history, create a wife, create children, think of small inconsequential details. Maybe he scratches his head a lot, maybe she keeps fixing that one lock of hair that keeps falling in her face. Maybe he sweats a lot. All of these small details that you create in your mind will help you immerse yourself in that character completely.

Another thing you can do to help is to disconnect yourself from OOC matters entirely. This is something that's rather tough to do on DayZRP because of the fact that roleplay is voice driven. You're sitting on Teamspeak, you're immersed in your roleplay and someone suddenly says a great joke on teamspeak. Or it's even roleplay related, something funny happens in character but instead of your characters laughing, everyone bursts into laughter over teamspeak and you can just TELL that it's OOC laughter. I used to roleplay with my second monitor turned on with either Skype or some Youtube videos for when I was running around and no roleplay was going on, so I killed that time with the second monitor. But that eventually distracts you even during roleplay, so I turned that off. I have a mute button on Teamspeak and I use it whenever roleplaying and often I get so immersed in roleplay that I forget to turn it off. I really wish we had an in-game radio system taking care of this because I think it would improve matters.

The final part of Method B I utilize that ties in to familiarizing yourself with your character is "foreignity". In simple terms, it is creating a character that is as much different from yourself as you can fathom, while still close enough for you not to become a parody. I will use myself as an example. I live in the Czech Republic, and I could never ever roleplay a slavic character properly, with the slight exception of Russians, but even then I have difficulty. It is simply too familiar, and ties in too much with my own personality. At the same time, I couldn't possibly roleplay Chinese/Japanese characters, or African characters, because roleplaying those would mean me becoming a parody of those. I simply do not have the insight into that kind of a character for me to immerse myself in them properly.

You can see this on the Doragonzu faction; don't take me wrong, they are quite fun, but they are nothing but a parody of real Japanese people. The funny accents, the constant screaming of Banzai, charging people with hatchets and machetes, that's not an Asian character in the apocalypse; that's an Asian character from a B-Movie from Bollywood in the apocalypse. This is because the people roleplaying those characters are too separate from the actual mentality to be able to portray it and keep it interesting in realistic sense. On the other hand, picking something too close to home will make it harder to create beliefs unfamiliar enough so that your own opinions don't affect your character.

That's why I like playing characters from the United States - I watch enough TV shows, movies and documentaries to understand how they work, I have a special understanding of Irish-American and Italian-American personalities and find it easy to roleplay them even though they are completely different from who I am. I can also roleplay French people with some degree of success because I spent some time in France and know the people very well, I have a lot of Spanish friends from work so I can roleplay those as well. That's how I choose what my characters are going to be. (Though I would prefer to roleplay Russian or ideally Chernorussian characters due to our lore, but I find that very taxing and it's harder for me to roleplay.)

CONCLUSION

Try to flesh out your character as much as you can, including seemingly unimportant details. A pimple on their face they are insecure about, a big nose, a deep appreciation for butterflies, love of beef steak, ... every small detail helps. Writing them down will help you remember these, but keep in mind you should follow them to the letter. If your character prefers Pepsi over Cola, then try and reflect that in-game as well. Alpha did this; his character David Bloomfield completely loathed Pepsi when he played here, so he wouldn't pick them up and if he did, he would give them to my character instead. But once we were out in the middle of nowhere, had no supplies other than my Pepsi and he was dehydrated, so he drank that, but made sure it reflected in his character's disgust over it.

Shut off any OOC influences as much as you can. It is tempting to say "blood bag me" but it doesn't make any sense. People are surprisingly smart on DayZRP - I once merely described that I feel dizzy, emoted that my character is very pale and there is a gaping wound in his shoulder, and someone on their own offered to give me a blood transfusion, saying that my character looks like they lost a lot of blood. You can do that first step and others will follow, increasing your immersion. Bind a button to mute teamspeak and mute it as much as you can, turn off Skype, etc.

Roleplay characters that are close, yet distant from you; so that you can roleplay them realistically but your own worldview doesn't shift into theirs and your decisions are separate.

Before your character takes an action, stop for a moment and think about what they would really do. It is likely that said person is older than you, has different experiences, so perhaps they would act differently. Perhaps you're a really calm guy in real life and you contemplate everything; make them be rash, and have your character make quick decisions, perhaps even at times where YOU think it's a bad decision - if it fits their character. Some people already do this when they KNOW it's a bad idea to approach some strangers but their character doesn't, or is very trusting, or desperate, so they do it anyway. Another example is again Alpha, whose character nearly died in NWAF barracks (the southern ones) - from there on, on that character, he REFUSED to go there ever again, even in our group - he would stay 200 meters away from it and "watch our backs". Even though that meant he wouldn't get a weapon because we couldn't carry it for him. It was an OOCly bad decision, but from an in character standpoint made sense. He even tried convincing our characters not to go there (but our characters did not have that terrible experience).

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[..] I mean the situation where someone asks your character "what is your view on abortion" and your character instantly replies "I abhor it and think it should be banned!" with passion, even though your real life utmost and passionate belief is that life should be pro-choice and women should make their own decision in this.

From this I deduced you are pro-choice.

Nice guide. Some things have been mentioned in other guides already, perhaps less extensively, but what piqued my interest the most is the notion that it's best to play a character from a different culture than your own, but one you are still somewhat familiar with.

I cannot judge the Imperial Dragons because I haven't really seen them roleplay but in general I don't agree parodies are necessarily a bad thing. It is certainly a danger with roleplaying Japanese characters but a bit of satire can make things really interesting for me. I have always considered CLF to be satire. The way they portray "naive", unworldly locals might not be 100% realistic but I love it nonetheless. If you have seen Muntz' roleplay you'll know what I mean.

I would've done what you did (character from US/Spain/France) but for me there's the language barrier I can't get past. I don't know French or Spanish. Or well, I do actually, but not nearly good enough to speak it, let alone speak it without an accent. Or more importantly, I do not know how to speak English with a French or Spanish accent.

What I've done now is I've made my character half Norwegian, but I have moved him back to the Netherlands for the majority of his life. Of course that means that Norwegian influences will be minimal but at least it explains my accent. The last 5 or so years he has lived in London justifies I'm pretty good at English.

Because in the end my character lived the majority of his life in the Netherlands this didn't have the wanted effect. I guess I have somewhat solved that by basing him on multiple characters from TV. Doesn't sound the most original at first but by combining a lot of personalities I know from TV series you can make it unrecognizable enough so that people won't notice.

It's essentially the same thing as you advised; distance yourself from your character, but not too much that it becomes a parody. With that said; I'm not roleplaying as the Joker or Batman.

Muntz is hilariously awesome, and there was a lot of that kind of thing going on, especially behind the scenes in CLF. For my own part, I played it straight. My CLF character was dead serious and earnest about every damn thing.

When I created that character was the first time I realized that playing a character as entirely unlike yourself as I could possibly portray without descending into parody is the way to go. It was so liberating (no pun intended, srsly). Just realizing that your character is not you and will make decisions that you, personally will disagree with frees up a lot of possibilities and enriches your play incredibly. I recommend it to everyone.

Most beginning RPers think that the safest way to go is to create a character based on their own beliefs and experiences; that it will make role playing easier and more spontaneous. Nothing could be further from the truth.

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I cannot judge the Imperial Dragons because I haven't really seen them roleplay but in general I don't agree parodies are necessarily a bad thing. It is certainly a danger with roleplaying Japanese characters but a bit of satire can make things really interesting for me. I have always considered CLF to be satire. The way they portray "naive"' date=' unworldly locals might not be 100% realistic but I love it nonetheless. If you have seen Muntz' roleplay you'll know what I mean.[/quote']

I didn't want to come off as saying that parodies are inherently bad. I love 90% of it but you know how people sometimes say too much of a good thing, right? In some situations the parodies can be quite jarring, and I think it shouldn't be the focus of a character (to be a parody). But opinions on this can differ greatly and I wouldn't hold it against someone if they preferred it that way.

I would've done what you did (character from US/Spain/France) but for me there's the language barrier I can't get past. I don't know French or Spanish. Or well' date=' I do actually, but not nearly good enough to speak it, let alone speak it without an accent. Or more importantly, I do not know how to speak English with a French or Spanish accent.[/quote']

You're right that it gets hard because of what I consider DayZRP's biggest limitation and that is the voice chat based roleplaying. All my life I have been roleplaying on games that were solely based on text, advanced chat systems that had commands (i.e. the classic /me does something would show up as *Character Name does something), logs accessible by players, range chats etc. Using an accent there was easy because you could just say (Spanish accent) Hi how are you, or emote having a Spanish accent. Then it was up to imagination.

I'm trying to roleplay a Russian character right now, for example, and it should be quite easy to tell because I'm from the Czech Republic, from the ACTUAL Russians I have heard their accent is similar to mine. The "Russian accent" on DayZRP is however also a harsh parody and so people will only guess you're Russian if you use that one; I literally got into trouble with some anti-foreigners group who didn't realize I was roleplaying a Russian character until I emoted something in chat and my name showed up.

So I understand that difficulty, yeah.

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When I created that character was the first time I realized that playing a character as entirely unlike yourself as I could possibly portray without descending into parody is the way to go. It was so liberating. Just realizing that your character is not you and will make decisions that you, personally will disagree with frees up a lot of possibilities and enriches your play incredibly. I recommend it to everyone.

Most beginning RPers think that the safest way to go is to create a character based on their own beliefs and experiences; that it will make role playing easier and more spontaneous. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Nothing could be further from the truth I'm sure, but it is only liberating when it's successful. It isn't always. Of course every skill comes with practice but I don't think people generally log in to DayZRP and think "let's practice my roleplay today!" - They just play. Which is fine, because playing is experience is practice. However, it seems to accurately play a character that is totally unlike you does not come easy.

Perhaps it truly is only experience. If that's the case I'm at a severe disadvantage. I have found that writing an elaborate background and setting goals for myself has really helped, and even writing short fictional (as in "not in-game") stories about my character improve my roleplay because for me it sets the mood. It shows me how my character would act in a certain situation. That comes naturally while writing - if only it could also come naturally while roleplaying.

I cannot judge the Imperial Dragons because I haven't really seen them roleplay but in general I don't agree parodies are necessarily a bad thing. It is certainly a danger with roleplaying Japanese characters but a bit of satire can make things really interesting for me. I have always considered CLF to be satire. The way they portray "naive"' date=' unworldly locals might not be 100% realistic but I love it nonetheless. If you have seen Muntz' roleplay you'll know what I mean.[/quote']

I didn't want to come off as saying that parodies are inherently bad. I love 90% of it but you know how people sometimes say too much of a good thing, right? In some situations the parodies can be quite jarring, and I think it shouldn't be the focus of a character (to be a parody). But opinions on this can differ greatly and I wouldn't hold it against someone if they preferred it that way.

No, don't worry, you didn't. I'm in full agreement with you. I think there's a certain middle ground where characters don't fall into the same habits each and every time, but manage to maintain a certain "lightness" nonetheless. Not necessarily breaking the fourth wall (although I can appreciate that if done in moderation), but... I dunno. Has to be seen to be understood.

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Firstly, this is awesome. Fantastic concepts and suggestions. Great work MartinJ!

I honestly am not quite sure what 'technique' I use to roleplay. I think if I had to categorise it from the the two you mentioned, it would be Transformation. However that doesn't quite fit. Most of my time in DayZRP could be considered 'casual' RP. In these times most of what I do revolves around humour. I would probably say that this is the time I use 'transformation'. However, occasionally, when the scenario merits it, more serious roleplay is required. During these times I think I change how I roleplay.

I feel like I don't become my character, it is more like I am just sitting here watching what he does. I provide his voice but that is about it. I mentioned this briefly in a conversation with Alfie and Gijs. This conversation referred to an in-game scenario. Gijs' character and mine were on a boat. My character (Pavel), was standing against the railing, looking sick. Gijs' character (Isaak), commented on this, asking if Pavel gets seasick. Pavel indicates that yes, he does get seasick and doesn't like boats. Pavel goes on to describe briefly why this is and gives details of past experiences. Afterwards, Gijs asked me if my character had always had an aversion to boats or if I made that up to suit the situation. After responding that yes, I had just come up with that detail, I had a think. Eventually I realised that I felt like actually, I didn't just come up with it to suit the situation. I myself didn't know the detail before that time. I myself just found out that Pavel doesn't like boats. Pavel told me. So now I know that Pavel doesn't like boats. This will always be part of his character. In fact, it always was. I just wasn't aware of it.

So the point of that extremely long and pretentious story is that, I feel like I'm not setting out to go "this is how my character will react to that situation" It is more, I am just along for the ride and Pavel will do what he does, regardless of my thoughts or opinions.

Now I've said that, I definitely just use transformation. I kinda feel like deleting the above two paragraphs now... But whatever, you guys can laugh at my retarded thought process.

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Now I've said that, I definitely just use transformation. I kinda feel like deleting the above two paragraphs now... But whatever, you guys can laugh at my retarded thought process.

Retarded thought process? I was the one to ask you if you came up with that on the spot.

I want to point out that your character wasn't actually "looking sick". He was just standing by the railing of the boat. The game mechanics force you to do that. I was sitting on the ground but that was just luck. It might've been me standing by the railing.

I asked you if you didn't like boats in an impulse. What I was impressed with is the fact that you played along so naturally, as if you were really standing by the railing because you were sick and not because the game forced you to by sheer luck.

And I know about your character telling you what he does and what he thinks. I feel the same way, although it doesn't come as naturally to me as it seems to come to you. I refer to my character in third person all the time. It's not me; it's my character. I can't possibly know everything about him, so a lot of stuff I discover along the way.

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Yup, that's pretty much exactly what transformation is, or a variant of it. It requires all the same skills and conditions as my initial example does, it's just that instead of 1st person you then engage that transformation in 3rd person.

Do you find it hard to play in 1st person IG? Are you opposed to the Standalone "Hardcore" (i.e. 1st person only) idea? I find most people who approach roleplay the way you do have a problem with that (I do too!).

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Yup, that's pretty much exactly what transformation is, or a variant of it. It requires all the same skills and conditions as my initial example does, it's just that instead of 1st person you then engage that transformation in 3rd person.

The result is the same but it is important to see the difference. One variant might work better than the other for some people. Some "ask" their characters for their opinion. Their characters are a separate entity. Others "become" their characters and just... play.

I prefer the former as there is a lot of information I do not know about Isak. I am comforted by knowing he knows and he can tell me whenever.

It's essentially the same thing, just a different perspective.

Do you find it hard to play in 1st person IG? Are you opposed to the Standalone "Hardcore" (i.e. 1st person only) idea? I find most people who approach roleplay the way you do have a problem with that (I do too!).

Eh, wow. Yes, I do. That's probably the most eye-opening thing I have read this month. Thanks.

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Do you find it hard to play in 1st person IG? Are you opposed to the Standalone "Hardcore" (i.e. 1st person only) idea? I find most people who approach roleplay the way you do have a problem with that (I do too!).

hmm. I did do first person only for a bit in the mod. I was using an alternative character to my much used 'Felix'. Come to think of it, I did feel awkward with even basic RP interactions. At the time though, I put it down to using a new character. It may well have been down to your theory though. Mind blown.

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Eh, wow. Yes, I do. That's probably the most eye-opening thing I have read this month. Thanks.

hmm. I did do first person only for a bit in the mod. I was using an alternative character to my much used 'Felix'. Come to think of it' date=' I did feel awkward with even basic RP interactions. At the time though, I put it down to using a new character. It may well have been down to your theory though. Mind blown.[/quote']

This applies to most people who view roleplay the way you guys do (I also do it that way). Often, I also find these people enjoy writing character stories very much, because to us, our characters are actors in a story, they're not a representative of us, we are a puppeteer or a director or however else you want to put it. It doesn't apply to everyone, but I can safely say the majority of people who view their characters from a 3rd person perspective will also be inclined to write stories about them.

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Eh, wow. Yes, I do. That's probably the most eye-opening thing I have read this month. Thanks.

hmm. I did do first person only for a bit in the mod. I was using an alternative character to my much used 'Felix'. Come to think of it' date=' I did feel awkward with even basic RP interactions. At the time though, I put it down to using a new character. It may well have been down to your theory though. Mind blown.[/quote']

This applies to most people who view roleplay the way you guys do (I also do it that way). Often, I also find these people enjoy writing character stories very much, because to us, our characters are actors in a story, they're not a representative of us, we are a puppeteer or a director or however else you want to put it. It doesn't apply to everyone, but I can safely say the majority of people who view their characters from a 3rd person perspective will also be inclined to write stories about them.

Okay, you are starting to freak me out. You are going to tell me what my favourite colour is next and I am going to crack.

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Eh, wow. Yes, I do. That's probably the most eye-opening thing I have read this month. Thanks.

hmm. I did do first person only for a bit in the mod. I was using an alternative character to my much used 'Felix'. Come to think of it' date=' I did feel awkward with even basic RP interactions. At the time though, I put it down to using a new character. It may well have been down to your theory though. Mind blown.[/quote']

This applies to most people who view roleplay the way you guys do (I also do it that way). Often, I also find these people enjoy writing character stories very much, because to us, our characters are actors in a story, they're not a representative of us, we are a puppeteer or a director or however else you want to put it. It doesn't apply to everyone, but I can safely say the majority of people who view their characters from a 3rd person perspective will also be inclined to write stories about them.

Get out of my head.

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Let's see... do you guys also get the slightest inspirations, like a certain sentence that is said by a character, or merely a picture in your mind of a certain scene, or you just look at a picture somewhere on the internet and it immediately inspires you to create an entire character about that picture, or to build a short story just so you can use that image in your head for it?

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Loved reading this mate, I think method two is really "Method Acting" and is how I try and act. My current character in the outlaws is an angry hard b*stard, and I love playing as him, even though I'd never speak like he does for a second in real life! I like to think of this game as one big stage

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Great guide MartinJ, and a must read for new RP'ers as well as seasoned ones!

I really like the detail you have put into all of this. Took the time and effort to help the community. I applaud you for doing so!

Even me, who has RPed in various communities since 2007 still stumbles into some bad habbits that I have developed whilst playing DayZRP. This for me was an eye opener and It will definitely further improve my RP.